Goodson drove the police van in which Gray suffered a broken neck.
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The theory outlined at the start of the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. marks the first time prosecutors have alleged Gray was given a “rough ride” the day of his April 2015 arrest.
Prosecutors, however, contend that at some point, Goodson sped through a stop sign and made a hard right turn onto a street, swinging the van around so fast it went into the lane of oncoming traffic.
There was no good reason for the defendant not to belt him in, except to bounce him around.
“My concern is what else didn’t your office turn over”, Williams said. Prosecutors said the meeting didn’t produce new information.
The judge overseeing the trial of a police officer charged with murdering Freddie Gray has determined that prosecutors withheld information that would have been beneficial to the defense.
But in state court, Judge Althea M. Handy declined to seal lawsuits brought by Sgt. Alicia D. White and Officer William G. Porter, and then Garbis and Bredar chose to unseal the cases they are overseeing.
Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow, left, and Deputy State’s Attorney Janice Bledsoe, right, arrive for the first day of the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson, not pictured, charged with murder in the death of of Fredd.
Defense attorney Andrew Graham countered that his client was hardworking police officer and good driver, and said there was no evidence of a “rough ride”.
Herbert Reynolds was the state’s second witness in the trial of Officer Caesar Goodson, who faces murder, manslaughter and other charges stemming from Freddie Gray’s death.
Goodson elected to have a bench trial rather, meaning that the judge, rather than a jury, will determine his guilt or innocence.
The murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; second-degree assault, involuntary manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter (gross negligence) up to 10 years. Gray was injured because he thrashed around and stood up in the back of the van, he said.
The trial of one officer in Gray’s death, Officer William G. Porter, ended in a hung jury. Between 2005 and 2011, only one officer was convicted in a bench trial of murder or manslaughter in the line of duty. He was never buckled into a seat belt, as required by department policy.
Gray had been arrested before and was known to resist, Graham said.
Gray, 25, was arrested when he fled officers unprovoked in a high-crime area.
Rough rides, or “nickel rides”, so-called after rides at an amusement park, have been the subject of lawsuits in Baltimore and other cities.
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Graham told the judge that the assistant medical examiner who prepared Gray’s autopsy report and ruled his death a homicide initially told an investigator that it was “a freakish accident” before meeting with prosecutors and changing her mind.
